


Make Good Time

by overkillua



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Typical Warnings, M/M, They deserve a happy ending, Time Travel Fix-It, i just finished reading the manga and i didnt like chap 19 so heres this :), i might change the warnings depending on how this goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-28 21:17:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overkillua/pseuds/overkillua
Summary: This time, he’s not going to let Ash die.





	1. Prologue

Eiji wakes up blearily to someone gently pushing his shoulder. His neck hurts as if he fell asleep in an uncomfortable position.

“The plane is about to land, Ei-chan.” Plane? He doesn’t remember getting on a plane. Where was he going? He blinks, disoriented, and turns to face Ibe. He’s a little confused to see him, he doesn’t remember meeting up with him, or why.

“Where are we?” Eiji asks, voice hoarse, not quite back to normal after sleeping. Ibe laughs.

“New York City! Are you still half-asleep?” Eiji’s stomach bottoms out. He hasn’t been to New York in years, not since – since Ash. His heart twists painfully.

“Why?” He doesn’t understand Ibe’s light-hearted attitude. He knows how painful this must be for Eiji.

“We’re doing that report on street gangs, remember?” This does nothing but confuse Eiji more. “Ei-chan, are you alright? You’re not nervous about this, are you? I know it’s your first time abroad but we’ll be working closely with the police-“

“I’m fine. I’m still half-asleep, that’s all.” Eiji reassures Ibe, and turns to face forwards, eyebrows furrowing. He doesn’t understand. He reaches under the fabric of his shoulder to the place where he was shot, expecting to feel the tight skin of a scar, but encountering nothing. Just smooth skin.

He doesn’t understand, but he’s beginning to.

He’s been brought back, right to the start. His stomach does weird things, as he allows himself, dares to hope at the prospect of seeing Ash once more.

This time, Ash is not going to die.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eiji arrives at New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of this dialogue is just lifted from the manga, just so yall know!!

Eiji and Ibe wait outside the police station to be introduced to Max Lobo. Eiji remembers vaguely that Max is currently in prison for punching a police officer, but mentions nothing, instead choosing to gaze around at the crowd around him. He feels like a rock in the river, standing still while everyone else lives their life around him. He breathes in the New York air, and he can’t say he missed it.

“Ei-chan, are you sure you’re okay?” Ibe asks, a concerned look on his face. Eiji nods, trying to summon a reassuring smile. Ibe seems convinced enough, but it’s definitely not enough to convince himself. He forces himself to focus when Charlie approaches them both.

“Mister Ibe? Excuse me, are you Mister Shunichi Ibe?” Ibe looks positively terrified, and it makes Eiji crack a smile. “I’m here on behalf of Max Lobo.” 

“He says he was sent by Lobo.” Eiji translates for Ibe, before he has a heart attack. “We’re happy to make your acquaintance...” He says in fluent English, which gains him a surprised look from both adults. His English had vastly improved from all the time spent with Ash, which of course hadn’t technically happened yet. 

“Uhh, I’m Charles Dickinson. It’s nice to meet you, too.” Charlie recovers quickly.

“I’m Eiji Okumura, Ibe’s assistant. And this is of course Shunichi Ibe.” Eiji proffers his hand, which Charlie takes. His handshake is warm and strong. Ibe follows suit, but he seems taken aback by both Eiji’s confidence and proficiency in a language he’s not practised much. 

“Why is Lobo not meeting us?” Ibe asks.

“I’m afraid he’s in prison.” Charlie sighs. Ibe looks shocked, and Eiji does his best to appear surprised as well.

“For what?” Ibe inquires tentatively.

Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose. “Punching a cop.” Ironically, Ibe looks like the one who’s been punched. “You’d better come with me.”

—

Eiji gazes around the precinct, trying his best to take everything in. This curiosity serves to ease Ibe’s worry, as well. The sight of guns no longer fills him with a sense of awe, but neither does it frighten him. He’s not as naïve as he was last time. He’ll do anything – everything he can to help Ash, but he knows how easily those weapons can take a life. He doesn’t want to use a weapon like that ever again, but he will. 

He is once again introduced to Jenkins, who Eiji remembers, and Inspector Norris, who he doesn’t. Ibe and Jenkins easily about Max’s absence, and Eiji feels a little bit awkward.

“Is this your son?” Norris asks, and Eiji pouts. So he’s going to have to put up with this again. He’d grown out his hair after Sing said it made him look older. He wonders if Ash would like his hair, and it’s not the first time he’s had that thought. Maybe he’ll actually find out, now.

“I’m a nineteen-year-old college student. Actually.” Eiji retorts, fond thoughts of Ash not enough to soothe his wounded ego.

“Nineteen?!” That stings. He pouts more.

“It’s hard to tell the age of an Asian.” Jenkins adds.

“But he looks young even to Japanese.” Ibe laughs at Eiji’s irritated face, which only makes him even more annoyed. 

“Didn’t mean to offend you. But looking young may be more to your advantage, actually.” Norris apologises, and Eiji frowns. He knows this. He knows why Ash distrusts adults, why he could never really trust them. Norris explains more about Ash, and Eiji tries to pay attention, but it’s hard to listen to someone telling you something you know better than them, and he’s too busy trying to keep his heart rate under control, anyway. 

“I’ll do my best!” He declared earnestly, causing Ibe to glance at him softly, but he doesn’t miss the worried edge to his gaze.

“They don’t trust adults. But with you they may relax and open up. Besides, they like to show off.” 

“Tell me, is it really dangerous?” Eiji knows better than anyone in this room that it is, more dangerous than anyone could have predicted, but that doesn’t bother Eiji. It’s not that he’s indifferent to violence, but it doesn’t scare him, not like it did at first. And besides, if he spends all his time worrying, he’ll never get anything done. Ash needs him, and he won’t let Ash down.

“It depends. They don’t follow our laws, but they strictly abide by their own rules. Usually, a single boss leads a gang. The gang’s personality reflects the personality of that leader. Sometimes, one leader runs more than one gang, so if there’s friction between the groups, he has to iron things out. They’re utterly faithful to the leader they’ve chosen.” Eiji thinks of Kong, Bones, Alex. How loyal they are. He knows that this isn’t typical. That Ash inspires loyalty in a different way than other gang leaders, who grease the cogs of the criminal world through blood, money, or both. Ash inspires devotion like no other, devotion that can’t be bought or threatened. 

“Everything depends on him.” Jenkins adds. 

“I see.” Ibe says, but he doesn’t. Not yet. 

“There’s a group in our jurisdiction whose boss is named ‘Ash’.” Until that moment, the situation still hadn’t felt real to Eiji. But with Jenkins acknowledging Ash’s existence, acknowledging that he’s  _alive_ , suddenly it does. He’ll see Ash. He’ll hear Ash, and touch him, and tease him, and love him more than anyone has ever loved anyone else. Not that he ever stopped loving Ash, but now he gets to be loved back. He wants that so badly it physically hurts. “This kid Ash is as sharp as they come. He united all the gangs in this area in no time at all.”

“This person Ash... he is a young boy, too?” 

“That’s right. About seventeen, I think. Caucasian.”

“Caucasian?!”

“That’s right. But he has Latino and black kids in his gang. That’s extremely rare.” It’s not really surprising if you know Ash, and you’ve experienced his magnetism and distinctive charisma, Eiji thinks. He knows that Ash can shut up a room full of hot-headed, trigger-happy delinquents with a spoken sentence.

He’s going to see Ash again, so soon. It’s not soon enough, but it is what it is. This, at the very least gives him time to plan how he’s going to get them through this, one step at a time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> asheiji meeting next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> i know this is really short but the rest of the chapters are gonna be longer! thank you for reading


End file.
